Essay – 1

Creative Writing – 7

Bank PO Essay – Word Limit – 250

OROP – Why the issue has defied solution so far?

One Rank, One Pension (OROP) is a demand that has been simmering within the armed forces retirees for years now leading to many protests by the armed forces veterans.

One Rank, one Pension means men and women retiring in the same rank with the same duration of service should get the same pension irrespective of their year of retirement.

On the face of it, it appears a very just demand, and the government priding itself for its commitment to the forces should not hesitate toconcede to such an innocuous demand. However, this problem that started in 1973 during Indira Gandhi’s time has become quite intractable because agreeing to this demand will mean sharp increase in the aggregate Pension expenditure of the three wings of the armed forces leaving little money to modernize the forces.

Following up on his poll promises, Prime minister Modi on coming to power in 2014 did try to resolve the OROP issue, but somehow, the problem has eluded a resolution. The government agreed to review the gap between past retirees and the current ones every five years, and make suitable adjustment to reduce the same. Arrears were to be paid in four equal installments. The year 2013 was to taken as the base year for calculation of arrears.

Despite such generous assurances, some sections of the retired veterans are not happy and continue to agitate. This embarrasses the government led by Mr. Modi, known for his strong man image.

Click here for all our Essays.

Click here for the entire Creative Writing Series.